TASHKENT, April 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Uzbekistan votes Sunday in a constitutional referendum that could allow President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to remain in power until 2040.
Authorities say the overhaul of the constitution will improve governance and quality of life in the Central Asian country of 35 million people, whose rights have long been heavily restricted.
But it is Mirziyoyev who is expected to benefit most in the majority-Muslim country, say political observers.
One of the main reforms is expected to be extending presidential terms from five to seven years; and allow the 65-year-old Mirziyoyev to serve two more terms and extend his time in power until 2040.
The government has gone to some lengths to give the vote a veneer of legitimacy, enrolling local celebrities at large rallies and concerts to praise both the proposals and the president.
Billboards around the capital Tashkent, the biggest city in Central Asia, carry imaginary message chats between voters.
Since coming to power in 2016 in the wake of the death of hardline predecessor Islam Karimov, Mirziyoyev has spearheaded a series of reforms in Uzbekistan, including a clampdown on forced labour in the cotton fields.
But activists say rights abuses persist, and authorities have shown no sign of allowing a political opposition to emerge.
In 2022, at least 21 people died during demonstrations in the autonomous region Karakalpakstan. Rights activists accused the authorities of having used lethal force against the protesters.
Karimov died in 2016 after a quarter century of brutal rule.
Mirziyoyev was his loyal prime minister for 13 years but now presents himself as a much more progressive figure.
Among the proposals are a ban on capital punishment and the protection of human rights for what Mirziyoyev calls a “new Uzbekistan”.
Uzbekistan’s population is emerging from a particularly harsh winter marked by shortages of fuel and is faced with enduring poverty and endemic corruption.
Despite some economic progress and social improvements, such as the criminalisation of domestic violence, the government brooks no dissent.
In July 2022, demonstrations against a constitutional amendment in the Karakalpakstan region, which would have reduced the autonomy of the vast territory, were put down in a bloody crackdown. Dozens of people were jailed.
The controversial amendment has since been withdrawn. — NNN-AGENCIES
